Offering a foreigner's view on Korean TV and movies

First Impression: The Man Living in Our House (Sweet Stranger and Me)

Yesyes, I know I am very late. Man is already on its halfway mark. But better late than never there right? 😛

Main cast:

Soo-ae (from Mask) as Hong Na-ri. Senior stewardess, her long time boyfriend (or fiancé) two-timed her with her hoobae, Yeo-joo, whom he met at Na-ri mum’s funeral. When Na-ri returns home to clear her mum’s belongings at their old home, she finds a stranger living in her house. And the stranger (Nan-gil) claims to be her new stepfather.

Kim Young-gwang (from D-Day) as Go Nan-gil. A man with an unknown (shady) past, but we do get hints he is somehow connected to Na-ri’s past. Nan-gil continues and expands the mandoo business Na-ri’s mum was involved in.

Lee Soo-hyuk (from Lucky Romance) as Kwon Duk-bong. Chaebol plus developer. He is interested in acquiring the land where Na-ri’s house sits on in order to complete his resort project. However, since the owner has now been changed to Nan-gil, he is meeting a lot of resistance. He decides to help Na-ri uncover Nan-gil’s secrets, believing him to be a cheat.

Jo Bo-ah (from Missing Noir M) as Do Yeo-joo. Na-ri’s vixen hoobae in the same company. For some reasons, Yeo-joo appears to be jealous of Na-ri (maybe cos she is unflappable at work?), and wants whatever Na-ri has. So she robs Na-ri fiancé and has him eating out of her hand. Not satisfied, she now eyes Nan-gil (and Duk-bong).

Synopsis:

We learn that Na-ri has been a flight attendant for some time, and is professional and gracious about her work, even if her customers are sometimes boors. Her seemingly happy life is made even sweeter when her long time beau, Dong-jin, proposes to her. However, she receives news that her mum died in a car accident on the same day.

Unfortunately, her wedding is called off – permanently. Yeo-joo, her hoobae at work, sets her eyes on Dong-jin and decides she wants her sunbae’s fiancé for herself. Na-ri finds out by accident and decides to cut ties with Dong-jin (though Dong-jin is terrified to tell his parents about the no-wedding…and pretends that everything is fine).

On her way back to her old house to pick up her mum’s belongings, Na-ri meets a young man who is sleeping near her mother’s grave. Said young man, Nan-gil, later introduces himself as her new stepfather, to Na-ri’s utter shock. Na-ri is torn between believing her mum did choose Nan-gil as a new husband and her mum being cheated by Nan-gil.

From her years in the service line, Na-ri’s gut instincts tell her that Nan-gil and her mum’s “love” is genuine. However, when she learns later from developer, Duk-bong, that Nan-gil has taken over her mum house, which is impeding his resort development from proceeding. And, he had promised to pay Na-ri’s mum premium price for the sale of the land…so it’d seem that Nan-gil has usurped Na-ri’s potential monetary inheritance. Na-ri engages Duk-bong’s help to check up on Nan-gil.

Despite half believing Nan-gil is a liar, Na-ri cannot help but be attracted to Nan-gil. Not juz cos he is good looking, but he also is strangely attentive to her and tolerant of her sometimes childish tantrums.

Review:

Even though I only started watching Man like 2 days ago, I have more or less caught up with the recent eps (I’m at ep6 btw). Without giving away too much spoilers, it is safe to say that Nan-gil is no con man. Although Nan-gil’s history with Na-ri will only be revealed from ep5; he comes across as a trustworthy “con man” as early as our (and Na-ri’s) introduction to him.

Na-ri herself notices that Nan-gil and her mum did look genuinely close and “in love” (although not the romantic love she assumed). And we trust Na-ri; her sixth sense honed from years of customer service and dealing with snappy travelers is sharp. Thus, the mystery is more on why Nan-gil needs to become Na-ri’s stepfather rather than whether Nan-gil is a con man.

Without Na-ri’s obtuse vouching for Nan-gil, Man’s narrative would be hmm…kinda perverse. Firstly, there’s this really young man who marries someone old enough to be his mum, and apparently really does love her. Secondly, said young man who is now the female lead’s stepfather, is going to fall in love with his stepdaughter. If this relationship isn’t incestuous, I don’t know what is.

Thankfully, there is an explanation to Nan-gil’s rather extreme methods. And behind his actions is a rather bittersweet love story (not telling more). I juz hope that Man does NOT turn out to be a melo. I am enjoying the dynamics between the characters now, even the interactions between bitchy Yeo-joo, Dong-jin and Na-ri. Kudos to Jo Bo-ah for her chameleon ability – I did not recognize manipulative man-eater Yeo-joo as the cool headed IT geek from Missing Noir M.

The worrying storm cloud in the distance (besides Na-ri’s convoluted family secret which involves money, bad debts and nasty gangsters), is Nan-gil’s unexplained fainting spells and dizziness. Juz let it NOT be a terminal illness or a brain tumour of some sorts.

2 thoughts on “First Impression: The Man Living in Our House (Sweet Stranger and Me)”

This is my current fave! Glad you are enjoying it too. Here’s hoping the rest of the episodes maintain the compelling narrative and acting. First time seeing Kim Yeong Kwang and I’ve to say I am charmed